The Maris Review, vol 4

Where is the midlife crisis novel for people like me, who are happily married but still feel plenty of other existential angst?

What I Read This Week

ALL FOURS by Miranda July

A lot of people are gonna be talking about this one, for good reason. And not just because of the sex scenes. I come to this novel the same age as the unnamed protagonist is at the start, and July nails what it feels like to inhabit an aging — but still vital! — human body. July’s heroine goes way harder than might be advised in order to wrestle with her philosophical quandaries, which makes for a truly scintillating read. But the basic questions of the novel feel universal. **If you are able, listen to the audiobook; it’s read by the author and it’s perfect.

On Twitter I asked a related question: Where is the midlife crisis novel for people like me, who are happily married but still feel plenty of other angst about their identity? I received some good answers so here you go:

• Goodbye Without Leaving by Laurie Colwin

• Mortals by Norman Rush

• The Red Arrow by William Brewer

• Fair Play by Tove Janssen

• Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple

• Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes To Iowa by W.P. Kinsella (it’s a short story but I’ll accept it!)

What else? Sound off in the comments.

LONG LIVE THE POST HORN! by Vigdis Hjorth, translated by Charlotte Barslund

“What’s your purpose in life, I asked myself. Why exactly are you here? What’s your role in society, what’s your contribution?” Are you sensing a theme here? A 2020 Norwegian novel about a PR consultant who feels like her life is getting away from her, everything meaningless and mundane, LONG LIVE THE POST HORN! is an impeccably written little book for exploring the big questions. While ALL FOURS is a journey to self-discovery in a decidedly maximalist vein, POST HORN takes a more minimalist — and less horny, yet still as affecting— approach.

VICTIM by Andrew Boryga

The Fabulist (Stephen Glass) meets Erasure (Percival Everett) VICTIM is a sharp and funny study of the kinds of narratives we (or, the media) want to hear from people of color, and the young journalist who tries to give us (all of us, we’re all implicated here) what we want. His popularity grows (mostly on Twitter) each time he delivers a story that affirms our worst assumptions, perfectly devoid of nuance.

And now a short excerpt from Mayor Eric Adams’s 2009 self-published guide to keeping your children safe

Adams has since disavowed Don’t Let It Happen, and it is no longer in print. The thing about Adams is he is not good at writing. Or lying. Or being an intimidating cop. We won’t even get into mayoring. He was a pretty good extra in a 2017 Turkish rom-com set in New York, I guess?

If you think this excerpt is bonkers in 50 ways, the rest of the book is equally... disconcerting. Byline has a good rundown of other passages if you wanna see more. I still hold out hope that I can organize a marathon reading of the whole thing (it’s short!), with the price of ticket sales going to NYC libraries, you know, the institutions that because of Adams’ budget are no longer open on Sundays. If you know of any venues who might be willing to host, please hit me up!

Some Notes From Last Week

In which I go to two fancy parties and one modest yet hopeful reading.

On Tuesday I went to Christie’s for the very first time after living in NYC for 23 years. Riverhead was hosting a party for my friend Rumaan Alam’s next book, Entitlement, which is available to pre-order now. The photo above is him in conversation with Katie Kitamura, one of my all-time favorites. Read her.

I have not read Rumaan’s new one yet, but Rumaan is a master of writing about money and how we (or they) consume what we/they consume. My favorite scene in his last book, Leave the World Behind, was a simple trip to the grocery store where we got every last detail about what our heroine bought. It was almost sexual in its thrills.

His new one is also about rich people, and holy shit the preview of Christie’s 20^th/21^st century art sale was the most intimidating background you could ask for. I got to see Frankenthalers and Warhols, Hockneys and Lichtensteins, Warhols and Picassos and Basquiats. It was overwhelming and I felt lucky and then very guilty that I got to see them.

The painting below is expected to sell for $30 million. Yikes. (They only served clear beverages at the party, and I don’t blame them!) Anyhow, billionaires shouldn’t exist.

After Rumaan’s party I headed down to Washington Square Park to the Judson Memorial Church, where Freedom to Write for Palestine was holding a reading for people who had dropped out of the PEN World Voices Festival. Emma Alpern has a lovely writeup of the event over at Vulture. It was standing room only by the time I got there, and I got to see Sabrina Imbler, Marie Myung-Ok Lee, and Hari Kunzru (below).

I’m not here to argue the merits for breaking away from PEN (I did that two weeks ago), I just want to report on the unity and solidarity I felt in that audience. We were an audience full of people who love great writing and hate genocide. It felt good.

On Thursday I went to Graywolf Press’s 50th anniversary gala.

I sat next to a donor who didn’t really know what Graywolf was all about, so I explained to him that in an age of corporate consolidation, the success of indie presses is more important than ever. I am so glad I got to see Danez Smith and Claudia Rankine (above left) and I absolutely hated the taxidermy on display at The Harvard Club (above right).

New releases, 5/14/24

Usually the first Tuesday of the month is when all of the big new releases are published, but not this time! Second Tuesday of the month is huge. Let’s enjoy this bounty, shall we?

MAGICAL/REALISM by Vanessa Angélica Villareal

BLUE RUIN by Hari Kunzru

ALL FOURS by Miranda July

per my previous memo…

THIS STRANGE EVENTFUL HISTORY by Claire Messud

Up next. I have loved the writing I’ve seen about the novel so far, and Messud’s publicist whom I trust implicitly, says it’s her best one. I really loved The Emperor’s Children, but I’d say that The Woman Upstairs was life-changing? So I cannot wait.

ANOTHER WORD FOR LOVE by Carvell Wallace

I love Wallace’s writing in various places like the NYT Magazine and can’t wait to read his memoir.

THE RED GROVE by Tessa Fontaine

REBEL GIRL by Kathleen Hanna

I got to see Bratmobile perform in Greenpoint a few weeks ago, and now I get to read Kathleen Hanna’s memoir and I feel grrreat.

And now to talk some shit…